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project BFTW (bike for the wife)

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:30 am
by nimm
My wife has never been a cyclist. She had a really cheap MTB about 6 years ago and only rode it a few times before it was stolen and we didn't bother replacing it.

Speed up to today and I'm a keen cyclist and we have a little 10 month year old who I'm sure will love it once we get him out on the bike (carrier or trailer - haven't decided that bit yet). So without wanting to spend much money I wanted to get a bike for the wife and see if she'll take it up this time.

We happened to find a whole bunch of bikes around the area during council cleanup but none of them were in a good enough condition (i.e. rusted crappy bikes not worth fixing up) or the wrong size. We actually picked up a Kojima Condor as a project bike for myself but it was a little large and has been given to aushiker to fix up :)

As luck would have it someone offered a 2004 women's Giant Cypress SE of the right size on freecycle (for free of course - google it). There was some wheel damage due to a ding but otherwise it seemed in reasonable condition.

Image
(stock photo - original specs)

After getting the bike home I realized both wheels were horribly damaged. I don't think from the ding but rather the owner trying to fix them! Many spoke nipples had been stripped, spokes bent, and the rim damaged (wavey).

I approached the LBS and found out a reasonable replacement hybrid 700C wheelset was going to cost around $140-$180. So I decided to grab a Shimano WH-R560 (105 spec) wheelset from c r c for $173! What a deal and if they don't work out they can become my spare set :)

If you check the money pits section you'll see I've spent $272 and have an awesome bike as a result. I'm rather proud of pulling apart the rear derailleur and cleaning it all up (filthy!), moving the rear cassette over to the new wheel, fixing the brakes, and getting the new chain on.

I'll get a photo of the finished product tomorrow.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:26 am
by Mulger bill
Nice work Nimm :D Hope it makes the GLW happy.

Shaun

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:13 pm
by Birdman
Nice work champ. I hope the wife gets out and has a spin with you every now and again. And i hope your littlen likes it too. Mine loves getting on the bike.

Mitch.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:28 pm
by munga
Birdman wrote:Nice work champ. I hope the wife gets out and has a spin with you every now and again. And i hope your littlen likes it too. Mine loves getting on the bike.

Mitch.
+1

I recently bought a trailer for my daughter and a CRX3 for my wife. We take a nice cruise each afternoon

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:30 am
by nimm
No photo yet, but went out for a test ride today and my wife was doing a nice 29kph (me along side with my speedo). There was a bit of a tail wind but she also said she wasn't really putting any effort into it either. So sounds like it rolls nice and smooth :)

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:52 am
by Mulger bill
Nice work. Welcome outside Mrs Nimm :)

Shaun